Sojourners - Discipleshiphttp://www.sojo.net/taxonomy/term/601/0
enSeeing Justice As Part of Discipleship — and Our Worship of Godhttp://www.sojo.net/blogs/2014/08/22/seeing-justice-part-discipleship
<p>Over the years, I’ve been given by some the mini-reputation as a leader in the field of justice. At first, I took it as a compliment and of course, I still do because I care a lot about justice. I know that people mean well. But I care about justice not just for the sake of justice. I care about justice … because I care much about the Gospel.</p><p>And sometimes, when I hear folks talk about justice in the church, I cringe …</p><p>I cringe because if we’re not careful, we’re again compartmentalizing justice rather than seeing it as part of the&nbsp;<em>whole Gospel</em>; We need to see justice as a critical part of God’s character and thus, our discipleship and worship.</p><p>Just like we shouldn’t extract the character of “love” or “grace” or “holiness” from God’s character, such must be the case with justice.</p><p>People often ask me, “What’s the most critical part about seeking justice?”</p><p>My answer:</p><p><strong><em>We must not just seek justice but live justly. Justice work and just living are part of our discipleship. Justice contributes to our worship of God.&nbsp;</em></strong><strong><em>Justice is worship</em></strong><strong><em>.</em></strong></p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2014/08/22/seeing-justice-part-discipleship" target="_blank">read more</a></p>DiscipleshipGod's PoliticsJusticejustice as worshiplive justlyoverratedRacial and Social JusticeSocial JusticeFaith and PoliticsTue, 26 Aug 2014 14:12:00 +0000Eugene Cho57941 at http://www.sojo.netAUDIO: Watershed Discipleship Roundtable Discussionhttp://www.sojo.net/magazine/2014/05/audio-watershed-discipleship-roundtable-discussion
<p>Ched Myers, Sara Stratton, Chris Grataski, and Sasha Adkins describe how they are connected to their local watersheds.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/magazine/2014/05/audio-watershed-discipleship-roundtable-discussion" target="_blank">read more</a></p>AudioAudioCreation CareDiscipleshipinterviewswatershedWeb ExtraMon, 14 Apr 2014 14:00:57 +0000The Editors53791 at http://www.sojo.netAttendees: They Came, They Saw, They Said...http://www.sojo.net/press/attendees-they-came-they-saw-they-said
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<span class="date-display-single">March 20, 2014</span> </div>
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Press Source:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/press-source/tidings">The Tidings</a> </div>
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<a href="http://www.angelusnews.com/news/local/attendees-they-came-they-saw-they-said/" 0="a:0:{}">http://www.angelusnews.com/news/local/attendees-they-came-they-saw-they-said/</a> </div>
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“The more I listened to Jim Wallis, the more that word ‘engagement’ is what entered my mind. And all I could think of is that we are a very entertainment-centered culture, and I’m kind of entertainment-centered in many ways myself. But ‘engagement’ — that is the only choice that we can make as Christians. We have to be engaged in the world: ‘I was hungry, and you gave me to eat.’ You didn’t sit there and watch a movie about hunger; you did something about it. </div>
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“The more I listened to Jim Wallis, the more that word ‘engagement’ is what entered my mind. And all I could think of is that we are a very entertainment-centered culture, and I’m kind of entertainment-centered in many ways myself. But ‘engagement’ — that is the only choice that we can make as Christians. We have to be engaged in the world: ‘I was hungry, and you gave me to eat.’ You didn’t sit there and watch a movie about hunger; you did something about it. <p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/press/attendees-they-came-they-saw-they-said" target="_blank">read more</a></p>CatholicismChristianityCongressDiscipleshipFaithFaithRECReligious Education CongressFaith and SpiritualityLife and PeaceMon, 07 Apr 2014 18:11:19 +0000Jlongley53680 at http://www.sojo.netA Watershed Momenthttp://www.sojo.net/magazine/2014/05/watershed-moment
<p>In the face of ecocide, the choice before us is stark: discipleship or denial.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/magazine/2014/05/watershed-moment" target="_blank">read more</a></p>biospherebridgesChristiansChurchCreation CarecrisisdenialDiscipleshipPoliticsstormTheologywatershedEnvironmental StewardshipFeatureTue, 01 Apr 2014 19:08:37 +0000Ched Myers53593 at http://www.sojo.netWhose Transformation?http://www.sojo.net/press/whose-transformation
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<span class="date-display-single">January 17, 2014</span> </div>
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Related Author:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/biography/gail-irwin">Gail Irwin</a> </div>
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Press Source:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/press-source/christian-century">The Christian Century</a> </div>
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<a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2014-01/whose-transformation" 0="a:0:{}">http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2014-01/whose-transformation</a> </div>
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How can we do this? This article from Sojourners, written by a fitness coach, is a little bit strident, maybe, but it speaks of the need for churches to consider our task of making disciples more seriously, and then “get to work” doing it, instead of just talking about it. </div>
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How can we do this? This article from Sojourners, written by a fitness coach, is a little bit strident, maybe, but it speaks of the need for churches to consider our task of making disciples more seriously, and then “get to work” doing it, instead of just talking about it. <p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/press/whose-transformation" target="_blank">read more</a></p>ChristianityChristianityDiscipleshipDiscipleshipFaithSpiritualityTransformationFaith and SpiritualityLife and PeaceFri, 07 Feb 2014 21:53:51 +0000Jlongley52797 at http://www.sojo.netRewriting the Lord's Prayer: What If How We Prayed Matched How We Live? http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2013/10/01/rewriting-lords-prayer-what-if-how-we-prayed-matched-how-we-live
<p style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">After reciting what we call the Lord’s prayer one Sunday, I got to thinking about how many times I’d said those words. Thousands? But how many times have I actually thought about what the words mean?</p><p style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">If we pay attention, it’s a prayer that makes us very uncomfortable.* These words of a peasant Jewish rabbi from 2,000 years ago challenge so much about the way we live — all of us, regardless of what religion we follow. If we’re honest, most of us don’t like it and have no intention of living by what it says.</p><p style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Which presents a question: Isn’t it a problem if we pray one way and live another? Shouldn’t our prayers reflect how we actually try to live?</p><p style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Along those lines, perhaps we should rewrite the Lord’s prayer and make it conform to what we really believe. In that spirit, here’s a rough draft of what it might sound like if the Lord‘s prayer was actually our prayer.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2013/10/01/rewriting-lords-prayer-what-if-how-we-prayed-matched-how-we-live" target="_blank">read more</a></p>ChristianityDiscipleshipFaithGod's PoliticshypocrisyLord's PrayerOur FatherPrayerselfishnessSpiritualitywalk the walkFaith and SpiritualityLife and PeaceTue, 01 Oct 2013 13:17:03 +0000Joe Kay50603 at http://www.sojo.net'Created to Do Good Works?'http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2013/05/08/created-do-good-works
<p style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Seen on a rural hillside: “Under Construction.”</p><p style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Someone had added, in letters almost as large, “No equipment, no budget, no crew and no work, but we have the sign.”</p><p style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">For the vast majority of Christians, this sign sums up their philosophy of discipleship.</p><p style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">In their determination to not be ‘saved by works’ they have cultivated a historically isolated, theologically sterile, spiritually impotent ‘faith’ that I can only describe as ‘Christian inertia.'</p><p style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">In this cultivated obliviousness they have forgotten, perhaps deliberately, that we are “created to do good works in Christ” (Ephesians 2:10).</p><p style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">They have somehow come to believe that ‘being a Christian’ is all about having the sign; being transformed (Romans 12:2) by the living word of God, far from being a thriving daily reality, has become an abstraction reduced to a bumper sticker or slogan.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2013/05/08/created-do-good-works" target="_blank">read more</a></p>ChristianityDiscipleshipFaithfaith without worksGod's PoliticsworksFaith and SpiritualityLife and PeaceWed, 08 May 2013 17:10:28 +0000Morf Morford48318 at http://www.sojo.netA Glorious Messhttp://www.sojo.net/magazine/2013/05/glorious-mess
<p>Everyone can use guidelines—and repair manuals—for living in Christian community.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/magazine/2013/05/glorious-mess" target="_blank">read more</a></p>BooksChurchcongregationDialogueDiscipleshipHospitalityintentional communityInterfaithManualpracticeBooksCultureLife and PeaceCulture WatchThu, 04 Apr 2013 13:10:21 +0000Elaina Ramsey47662 at http://www.sojo.netFaith to the Utmosthttp://www.sojo.net/magazine/2013/03/faith-utmost
<p>Today many people identify as "spiritual but not religious." Before it was trendy, Oswald Chambers, the man behind <em>My Utmost for His Highest</em>, did too.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/magazine/2013/03/faith-utmost" target="_blank">read more</a></p>devotionalDiscipleshipEvangelismLentModernrelationshipFaith and SpiritualityLife and PeaceFeatureMon, 11 Feb 2013 16:55:20 +0000Ronald Osborn46643 at http://www.sojo.netThe Power of Christmashttp://www.sojo.net/blogs/2012/12/07/power-christmas
<p>“Faith is recognizing that if at Christmas Jesus became like us, it was so we might become more like him,” wrote the well-known preacher and activist William Sloan Coffin. He goes on to add, “We know what this means; watching Jesus heal the sick, empower the poor, and scorn the powerful, we see transparently the power of God at work.”*</p><p class="p1">Christmas really is about seeing the power of God at work, but far too often pastors and churches fail to tell this story. Oh sure, we preach about Mary and Joseph, Jesus being born in a Bethlehem manger, and the Magi following a star to find him and offer gold, frankincense, and myrrh. My fear is that the story has grown familiar and routine. We have forgotten its power and no longer see its challenge.&nbsp;</p><p class="p1">In Matthew’s Gospel, the Magi seek out Jesus after hearing of his birth. In order to find him they ask King Herod where they can find the new king. This, of course, is news to Herod who is surprised to learn that his title has been claimed by a baby. Herod consults his advisors and then reacts with the expected calmness of a leader anticipating a conflict, which is to say his response is not calm at all.&nbsp;</p><p class="p1">This story is an announcement that Jesus has arrived to challenge the powerful. The Messiah was not born meek and mild. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2012/12/07/power-christmas" target="_blank">read more</a></p>AdventAdvent ReflectionsChristmasConsumerismCultureDiscipleshipGod's PoliticsFaith and SpiritualityLife and PeaceFri, 07 Dec 2012 20:48:23 +0000Beau Underwood45740 at http://www.sojo.net